Writing instruments



1960 w. H. KERSTEN WRITING INSTRUMENTS Filed Feb. 25, 1957 IN V EN TOR.

S m m m 0 m M WRITING INSTRUMENTS William Herman Kersten, Janesville, Wis., assignor to The Parker Pen Company, Janesville, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Feb. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 641,968

2 Claims. (Cl. 120-'42.03)

This invention relates to gravity actuated retractable writing instruments.

A writing instrument of the general character noted includes a barrel or holder and a writing unit in the barrel, the Writing unit being movable by gravity, merely by pointing the barrel upwardly and downwardly respectively between respectively a retracted position in which the writing point of the unit is concealed in the barrel and a projected position in which the writing point is exposed forwardly beyond the barrel in writing position.

An object of this invention is to provide a writing instrument of the foregoing character having a novel and exceedingly simple, effective and economical arrangement for retaining the writing unit in projected position positively and non-yielding against the forces imposed on the unit during writing and for positively releasing it from such retention for permitting its retraction.

Another object is to provide such an arrangement wherein a forwardly facing shoulder in the barrel is the sole means for so holding the unit projected and wherein a sleeve is slidably disposed around the unit for centering the unit thereby removing it from the shoulder to permit its retraction.

A further object is to provide such an arrangement wherein the writing unit and the sleeve are the only moving parts within the barrel of the writing instrument.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a writing instrument embodying the invention, showing the barrel pointing upwardly and the writing unit in its retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with the barrel pointing downwardly and with the writing unit in its projected position;

Fig. 3 is a view of a portion of the instrument shown in Figs. 1 and 2 illustrating an alternate embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the writing instrument shown in Figs. 1 and 2, illustrating same with the writing unit removed;

Fig. 5 is a view of a portion of the writing instrument shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, illustrating an alternate embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating still another alternate embodiment of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the writing instrument illustrated is of the ball point type. A barrel 7, having a forward barrel section 8 and a rearward barrel section 9 connectable in any suitable manner such as by threading as shown, houses therein a writing unit 11. The barrel has externally thereon pocket gripping means such as a rubber ring grip 10 having a plurality of annular projections for frictionally engaging a shirt or coat pocket to retain the instrument therein in an upwardly pointing direction.

The writing unit 11, a ball point cartridge, has extending forwardly from its main body a feed or point section States Patent 0 "ice 12 containing a writing ball 13. The Writing unit 11 is movable by gravity between the retracted position (Fig. l) and the projected position (Fig. 2) as will be explained more fully hereinbelow.

The barrel has a main bore 14 therein in which the writing unit may move longitudinally and laterally as is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The barrel has a port 15 therein for receiving therein and therethrough the point section 12 of the writing unit. A rearwardly facing seat 19 is formed in the barrel for engaging and seating the writing unit when it is in projected position and for limiting the forward movement of the writing unit.

In the barrel, in a chamber 16, which is a widened portion of main bore 14, there is slidably disposed a centering sleeve 21. The centering sleeve 21 is loosely slidable in the chamber 16 and is loosely fitted around the rear portion of the writing unit. A recess 17 formed in the barrel at the inner rear end thereof (opposite the port 15) functions to receive the rear end of the writing unit when it is retracted, as is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. An annular recess 22, formed in the barrel, surrounds recess 17, being separated therefrom by a bar-rel portion 23, and receives the rear end of the sleeve 21 when the sleeve slides rearwardly.

With the instrument in the position shown in Fig. l, the writing unit is retracted. The rear end thereof is in the recess 17 and the centering sleeve 21 rests in annular recess 22. As the barrel is tipped to be pointing downwardly as is shown in Fig. 2, the sleeve 21 and the writing unit fall forwardly longitudinally by gravity; sleeve 21 falls to its limit position resting against shoulder 20, and the writing unit falls to its limit position resting against seat 19, and the writing point is thereby projected or exposed for writing As the barrel is so tipped, the rear end of the writing unit escapes from recess 17 and falls laterally by gravity to be out of alignment with said recess and to be directly ahead of shoulder 18. Thus in writing, the rear end of the writing unit engages shoulder 18 which positively and non-yieldingly holds the writing unit projected against the rearwardly acting forces encountered in writing.

When it is desired to retract the writing unit, the barrel is tipped to be pointing upwardly as is shown in Fig. 1. As the barrel is pointed upwardly, the centering sleeve 21 slides rearwardly in chamber 16 and in so doing it laterally moves the rear end of the writing unit out of engagement with shoulder 18 and into alignment with recess 17. As the centering sleeve 21 slides rearwardly, it falls between the writing unit and the barrel, and thus forces the writing unit into the central position. The annular recess 22 receives a portion of sleeve 21 when the sleeve slides rearwardly and thus allows the sleeve to travel rearwardly beyond the entrance to recess 17. This gives the sleeve a longer falling stroke and thus results in a more positive action in the centering function of the sleeve. The writing unit is thereby very positively released from the projection holding shoulder 18 and is retracted by gravity into the recess 17. Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, it can be seen that the annular recess 22 receives sleeve 21' (Fig. 5) or sleeve 21 (Fig. 6) to very positively release the cartridge from the projection holding shoulder 18.

The writing unit may be retained in the retracted position by keeping the barrel tipped upwardly. If the writing unit is to be carried in a pocket, the ring grip 10, acting frictionally with the pocket, holds the instrument in the point-end-up position. Instead of the ring grip 10, a pocket clip of any of the well known types may be used for this purpose, as is illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein a pocket clip 10 is fixed to the forward barrel section 8 and arranged to hold the instrument in the pocket in the pointend-up position.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate alternate forms for the centering sleeve, wherein the sleevehas a greater inside diameter at its rearward portion than at its forward portion. Sleeve 21' in Fig. 5 is counterbored or stepped to accomplish this, having a thick forward portion 24 and a thin rearward portion 25. Sleeve 21" in Fig. 6 is continuously tapered to accomplish this diiference in inside diameters. The advantage of these arrangements is that the rear end of the sleeve, being of larger inside diameter, permits greater lateral movement of the rear end of the writing unit as it falls forwardly and later-ally to projected position.

The invention provides a simple but reliable gravity projectable and retractable writing instrument comprising solely the barrel, the writing uni-t and the centering sleeve; andv the only two movable parts within the barrel are the Writing unit and the sleeve. Further, the writing unit needs no special attachment thereon but can beof the well known standard types of ball point cartridges on the market.

I claim:

1. A gravity actuated retractable writing instrument comprising: a barrel; a writing unit in the barrel movable therein by gravity both longitudinally and laterally between a projected position and a retracted position, respectively, upon merely pointing said barrel downwardly and upwardly respectively; said barrel having a rearwardly facing seat therein for engaging said writing unit to limit the forward movement thereof; said barrel having a cavity in the inner rear end thereof for receiving the rear end of said writing unit when said unit is retracted; said barrel having a forwardly facing annular shoulder surrounding said cavity for engaging the rear end of said unit to hold said unit in projected position against the pressures of writing when said unit is projected; said barrel having a rearwardly facing shoulder therein intermediate said seat and said forwardly facing shoulder; and a centering sleeve disposed loosely about the rear portion of said unit and slidable by gravity in said barrel over the rear portion of said unit for centering the rear end of said unit by laterally moving it out of engagement with said forwardly facing shoulder and into alignment with said cavity upon said sleeve sliding rearwardly in response to pointing said barrel upwardly; said barrel having an annular groove in theinner rear end of the barrel surrounding said forwardly facing shoulder and said cavity for receiving the rear portion of said sleeve when said sleeve moves rearwardly; said sleeve having a larger inside diameter in its rearward portion than in its forward portion.

2. A gravity actuated retractable writing instrument comprising: a barrel; a writing unit in the barrel movable therein by gravity both longitudinally and laterally between a projected position and a retracted position, respectively, upon merely pointing said barrel downwardly and upwardly respectively; said barrel having a rearwardly facing seat therein for engaging said Writing unit to limit the forward movement thereof; said barrel having a cavity in the inner rear end thereof for receiving the rear end of said writing unit when said unit is retracted; said barrel having a forwardly facing annular shoulder surrounding said cavity for engaging the rear end of said unit to hold said unit in projected position against the pressures of writing when said unit is projected; said barrel having a rearwardly facing shoulder therein intermediate said seat and said forwardly facing shoulder; and a centering sleeve disposed loosely about the rear portion of said unit and slidable by gravity in said barrel over the rear portion of said unit for centering the rear end of said unit by laterally moving it out of engagement with said forwardly facing shoulder and into alignment with said cavity upon said sleeve sliding rearwardly in response to pointing said barrel upwardly; said barrel having an annular groove in the inner rear end of the barrel surrounding said forwardly facing shoulder and said cavity for receiving the rear portion of said sleeve when said sleeve moves rearwardly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,693,170 Sears Nov. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 36,478 Germ-any Aug. 19, 1886 2,017 Great Britain of 1890 205,000 Australia Dec. 4, 1956 

